A Prisoner of the Sultan
by Gemini Explorer
Summary: This Mature-rated adventure tells how Marguerite learned to dance superbly while in the harem of a sultan. She tells Finn and Veronica, but dare she tell John? And, how did she escape the harem? My first story here. Hope it posts okay...


Disclaimer: This Fic is rated Mature. The "Lost World" series characters are the property of several rights holders, and are not presented as the writer's own, although they are seen here in situations and circumstances not fully identical to those in the series in which they first appeared. Finn and Challenger are now an item, as are Ned and Veronica. All three couples in the Treehouse are committed to one another, and will eventually marry, as they have that opportunity. And now, our story, which is complete. It tells how Marguerite learned Middle Eastern dance, which she performs so well in some of my other Fics. Will she tell John about her humiliating captivity in the hands of a despotic sultan? Or, will she beg Veronica and Finn to keep her secret?

"A Prisoner of the Sultan, Or, How Marguerite Learned to Dance"

by Explorer

The mood in the Treehouse was festive this evening in late May. The women had agreed to dance, and Challenger had made excellent white rum to stretch their dwindling supply of spirits. Veronica had opened a bottle and made up a rum-citrus punch, which was proving very popular.

Dinner was over, and the men were busy cleaning up after. They also moved some furniture in the main living room, to allow a larger dance space. After the ladies had performed, the couples would also dance, to slower, more romantic music from the Victrola gramophone.

As they changed into their brief halter tops, loincloths, and sarongs, the girls argued playfully over who should wear which colors. Their outfits were partially gifts from their Zanga friends, and the rest devised by Marguerite, who also had a harem outfit saved from when a magical black giant had forced her to don it during their brief encounter many months past.

"Finn wears black almost every day, and she wore black the last time we did this," protested Veronica. "I want to wear black tonight."

"Okay, go for it," acknowledged Finn. "Marguerite, you know colors and styles best. How would I look if I wear my dark green outfit?"

"Fine, Finn, you look good in greens. Wear that little gold ankle bracelet that you love, and that will bring out the color even better. Wear the thin brown crocodile belt to hold your loincloth. Brown looks better with green than black, and the raised grain of the hide looks good. Just keep those gold loop earrings on; they're ideal for the look that you want. What should I wear?"

"Red", said the two blondes together. All of the women laughed, for it was well known that Marguerite was devastating in reds.

Finn got out her green outfit, selecting a sarong that was half diaphanous, letting her superb legs be seen through it dimly, to entice even before she removed the sarong to tease and swirl it during her dance. The brief loincloth was trimmed in gold braid at the bottom of each panel, as it hung on her, the center portion passing between her legs.

2

Marguerite selected a dark red outfit, and the girls undressed, folding their normal clothes on the bed in the spare room that they used for changing. They had all seen one another nude more times than they recalled, as they swam or in more dangerous ventures that they had managed to survive, after capture by enemies who wished them harm, but who had failed to triumph. So, there was no shyness, although each girl compared herself mentally to her 'sisters', as women will when they know that they will soon be seen and assessed by men.

Finn sipped her punch, looking candidly at the others. She had the smallest breasts, although she was very close behind Marguerite, in spite of the older woman looking bustier in most of her clothes, due to the way the clothing fit. Veronica was easily the best endowed, and the others teased her about getting her top fastened well, for it had come undone during their last performance. The result had embarrassed and amused everyone, to her horror, until she had finally joined in the laughter.

"No more wardrobe malfunctions, V., or we'll know that you secretly long to be a topless dancer," razzed Finn.

Marguerite, wearing only brief beige panties, sipped her drink, too, and twirled in a practice move. She wriggled a bit and giggled as she saw the others look at her in awe and a bit of envy. Finn tried to mimic her, and came close, but knew that she had failed to achieve the subtle nuances that Marguerite brought to the moves.

Veronica watched thoughtfully, as she sat to remove her boots, the last of her normal attire. "Marguerite, you said that you might someday tell us how you learned to dance. I checked the calendar today, and it's May 18, Someday. Give! I have to know where you learned to perform like that. Have you ever even been in the Middle East?"

"Yeah, George tells me that I'm the best dancer of us three, but he just says that because he loves me," added Finn. "I want to know how you do that. I think sometimes that you move muscles that I don't even have! You are so hot. Tell us how you do that. I bet you didn't learn it in London."

Marguerite just stopped herself from giggling again. Definitely need to watch that punch, she thought. It tastes so good and so fruity that it's easy to forget that it has a knockout potential...

"Oh, very well, then. But I've told this only to John, and he doesn't know all the details, although I think I'll tell him later tonight. I want to let him know what sort of woman he's chosen. Some of it. Don't tell this to Ned or to George. They might have some value issues with me afterwards. I haven't always been the good girl that I am now. Veronica, help Finn get that loincloth on right. She needs help in back."

When the loincloth was adjusted to leave some three inches of the narrow green cloth dangling below her intimate zones, back and front, Veronica made a face and said sarcastically, "Don't trip over that, Finn."

"Hey," protested the other girl. "You're the one who wants to wear black tonight. My black loincloth comes down halfway to my knees."

3

"Finn, put on your top and go down and tell the men that we'll be another 20 minutes or so, for wardrobe adjustment." Marguerite had decided to tell her story.

"Wardrobe adjustment? What's that mean?"

"Nothing, silly, but they're men. They won't know the difference. And I've decided to tell my story, if you really want to hear it. Get back up here fast; don't hang around and watch them watching you, while you get off on it. They'll ogle us all later. You can peek to see who's staring then. I'm only going to tell this once. It's embarassing, and I may change my mind if you make me wait too long."

Finn was soon back, advising the others that Roxton had said that he would kill the time by telling a story of his own, about an elephant hunt on which he was nearly killed by a Cape buffalo..

"It sounds really good. I want to hear that one later, myself," said the slim blonde.

"That does sound like it's right up your alley," agreed Veronica, who, like Marguerite, teased Finn for her fondness for hunting adventure. "Okay, Marguerite, speak! We're all ears!" She and Finn sat at Marguerite's feet, and the brunette Briton began to tell her tale.

"Well, this goes back 14 years. I was barely 20. I'm not too proud of parts of it, especially that I got caught stealing in the first place."

"I was in Marseille, and a girl named Antoinette and I decided to steal some really fantastic jewels belonging to a visiting Turkish diplomat. His name was Selim Bey."

"Toni was supposed to chat up the guards while I sneaked into his hotel suite through a rear window. I came down from the roof on a rope. Briefly, we were betrayed by the 'fence' to whom we had planned to sell the jewels, and we were detained in that suite, and made to undress, everything off. I felt so exposed, so bare and helpless! I'm sure that this was one reason why we had to strip. The other was mainly to evaluate us. We were asessed to guess our market value in a slave owning society. If we hadn't both been good looking, I'm sure that our bodies would have been found on some street, or the police would have been called to deal with us."

"We were tied, wrists behind us, ankles and knees bound, too. Even our arms, just above the elbows, were snugly bound to our sides. They said that this was their 'transportation' binding, and that we would soon be confined differently, although securely. We were gagged, then hooded, so that we could see no one or anywhere that we were taken. It was terrifying. I was still young then, remember, and it was the first time that I had been captured by someone who had reason to wish me harm. That would scare me today, especially knowing what sort of men they were...and are."

"We were wrapped in Oriental rugs, rather like Cleopatra was when presented to Caesar, I'm sure, except that she wasn't trussed up nude like we were, nor was she

4

destined for our fate! They put us in a truck and I soon smelled salt air and the sea. I guessed the next step. I began struggling desperately, but was slapped and told to behave or that I would regret it. We were put aboard a ship and when we were allowed on deck, I saw that it was an Arab dhow, and that we were miles out to sea. Our wrists were still tied behind us, our ankles hobbled by a foot of rope, and we were led on leather leashes. I was scared silly that we were about to be thrown overboard or trolled as bait for sharks, to amuse the man whom we had atempted to rob. He had a reputation for ruthlessness. It was deserved."

"We were kept chained in cages below deck except when we were allowed out to exercise and to train. Remember those moves that we were taught by Burton's goons, Nikki?" Marguerite used the slave name that Finn had worn during their captivity by a gang of slavers on the Plateau. (See the Fic, "Spirit Jaguar" at In the Fiction section, of course.) What we learned was very similar to what Burton and Mr. Phil and those other cretins taught us. That's how I learned to do those things so well so quickly for Burton; I remembered the training that I had had years before, in similar circumstances, destined for the same ultimate fate: a collar on my neck."

"Finally, we landed in Aden, and were taken ashore, bound and hooded, in large wooden boxes. We were actually sold in Saudi Arabia, I think, but they never let us know just where that market was. I never saw Toni again. She was bought by an Arab who lived further south than where I went. I was jealous of her bringing a higher price than I did, because she was blonde. That hair color appeals to men everywhere, but is uncommon in that part of the world, so we were not just Western women; one of us was a blonde. I sometimes think that her bringing more money than I did is why I've always resented blondes somewhat since. It may be why I tease you two about that. Thank you for having a good sense of humor about it, by the way. Ned and George are very fortunate to have you girls, and not just because you are blondes. I'm very thankful to call you my friends. Veronica, be careful of that punch; it tastes so good that it sneaks up on you, and you have to dance soon. You'll need your fine motor skills."

"I was sold to Sultan Ahmed bin Hakim al-Rashid, the ruler of one of the Arabian Gulf states. It's called Ammarah (writer's note: fictional country.)

Marguerite sipped her drink and continued, Finn and Veronica sitting at her feet, all ears. This was the best story that they had heard in a long time.

"I was taken by caravan to my master's palace in the capital city, Amar-n-Sheba. It was so called because the Queen of Sheba used to have caravans that traded there, so many years ago. In many respects, that land hasn't changed much since Biblical days."

"There, my training was continued, and I was taught to dance. I learned other skills to please my master and his guests. There were about 20 of us Western girls; I was one of six Brits. At first, I tried playing indignant, demanding to see the British consul. That earned me a week in what they call a 'room of correction'. After that experience, I was eager to please those who trained me. Finn, take my word for it. They were more ruthless and efficient than the men who trained us. You do NOT want to displease an Arab slave trainer."

5

"I soon realized that I had a real talent for dance. My body is well built for that sort of dance, and I knew that it pleased men. It was MEANT to please men, and they have had thousands of years to refine the moves. It pleases men, all right. The hell of it was that it also pleased ME! I was proud to show off what I could do, that I could be so female, so desirable. It stirred something inside me, and I decided to become the finest dancer that they had seen. I wanted them to know that an English girl could beat them at their own game. The other women in the seraglio were soon jealous of me. I was taken before the Sultan, and I pleased him on both the dance floor and in his chambers. I wanted to earn his trust and his interest. I became his favored girl. Not bad for someone who had almost been a virgin when captured. I had had only two lovers."

"But I never forgot who and what I had been,and those (expletive deleted) Arabs were NOT going to break my spirit..not completely. They did a pretty fair job on me, but I retained some of who I had been. I've always had a strong will, and it served me well, although I had to be submissive on the outside. Inside, I longed for freedom, and never stopped looking for a chance to escape, although where I could go, kept nude or in scanty clothing, penniless, I wasn't sure. I was kept behind locked doors, often in a cell. But hope never died, although it got very sick at times." She smiled at the grim joke.

"I looked constantly for a way to leave, and finally, I found it."

"After I had been there for about a year, my master received some guests. I was one of the girls who served refreshments as they sat and spoke with Master. I remember that we were told not to speak of offering wine, because it would have been an issue with the populace if they had known that the sultan was serving and even drinking alcoholic beverages in a Muslim nation. Never fear, girls, hypocrisy is everywhere among the elite, in all lands."

"I was ordered to dance, and it made an impression on these men, who were arms merchants. They were actually from the Mauser company in Germany. You know their products, Finn. Burton sold some to the Zanga rebels. The sultan ordered 10,000 of their 8mm rifles for his army, and some of their funny looking pistols, with the magazine out in front of the trigger guard, The agents also took orders for Lugers, which were made by some other German company."

"DWM," said Finn. "Johnny says that name abbreviates, 'German Weapons and Munitions Factory' in their language. We have several here that we got from the Burton creeps. And you said that you saw another on that German pilot who was here before I came, Dieter Somebody."

"Thanks, Finn. I know what a Luger is. I've had to use one a time or two. I'm just saying that these men were selling them to the sultan, besides the actual Mauser arms. Germany had extensive trade and political connections there, as they did in Turkey before the war. Anyway, they liked me. I played up to one when the sultan wasn't watching, and offered him a week in his bed, doing whatever he wanted, if he could get me out of there, to some place where I could reach a British embassy or consulate, and get me a dress so that I could be seen out in public."

6

"Wait a minute here!," said Veronica. "You mean that you would have screwed this man for a week? Marguerite, what sort of girl were you? Were you lying to him?"

"No, Veronica," Marguerite said testily. "See why I was hesitant to tell this sordid little tale? As for what sort of girl I was, I was a desperate one, and a slave who was already entertaining my master and his more honored guests, to order. What was one man more? And he would be risking his life to help me. My body was the only currency that I possessed. Get the picture?"

Finn rose and sat beside Marguerite. She took her hand and held it and looked into her eyes so sympathetically that Marguerite began to cry. Finn ran across the room for a towel, and sat beside her, holding Marguerite until she had regained her composure.

Veronica hugged both of them and asked to be pardoned for her impertinent question and for her indignation. "I just didn't realize how bad this was going to be, Marguerite. Please forgive me. I'll keep my mouth shut if you'll finish the story. It's awful, but I'm fascinated." She looked at Finn and they exchanged a meaningful look. Finn had already told Veronica some things from her own past that were the cause of her nightmares, which had largely abated since she had fallen in love with George Challenger, who comforted her and assured her that she was not to blame.

Finn moved over on the bed, and held Marguerite's arm while Veronica sat on her other side and held her hand. "Please, Marguerite, go on. I swear that I'll shut up", said the Layton beauty, their hostess.

"I'm so ashamed. What would John think if he knew this?" asked Marguerite.

Finn stroked her hair."It's okay, Marguerite. We love you. What happened then wasn't your fault, and you were pretty smart and pretty brave to think of that idea. Give John some credit, too. You might have to tell him this at the right time, after warning him that he is going to be shocked in places. But I know him really well, and there is no way that he will reject you over this. If anything, he will cry with you and tell you that you will be safe with him from now on, forever. His love for you can withstand more than this. I've heard him tell me how much he cares about you, and how hurt he is that you won't let him in. Trust me, he can handle this. What he can't handle is thinking that you can't trust him to know."

"You think so?" Marguerite looked hopefully at Finn.

"I know so," Finn said firmly. "That guy loves you, and he has a really sensitive side. He might be shocked, but he'll get over it. And he will value you all the more for having trusted him to know. That's how it worked with me and George, too, just so that you know. I felt a lot better after telling him about myself, and he was so wonderful, so compassionate..."

Roxton called from below. "How much longer, ladies? I'm running out of exciting stories!"

7

Finn jerked her head at Veronica, who understood and quickly donned her halter top and went to the door to tell the men that they wouldn't be too much longer.

"Can you finish now, Marguerite?," asked Finn. "Just hit the high points. But V. and I want to hear this. Please?"

Marguerite wiped her eyes and sipped her drink. "Well, I'll hurry. It does end well, at least. Veronica, Finn, thank you for your compassion. I'm sorry that I lost it there for a moment."

"We did reach an arrangement. If I could manage to reach a certain door in the palace by dawn, he would sneak me aboard a truck and take me to the docks and aboard their ship. I would hide in a big box. We would work out further details later, but he refused to make me serve him, saying that it was his duty to assist a white woman held as I was, although he knew well that many of us served in harems. He could have lost his job for helping, for his company turned a blind eye to this issue, because the money was so good in selling arms to Arab despots. I would have to stay out of sight until we were well at sea, then he would try to smuggle me ashore."

"What I needed next was a way to slip away from the slave quarters or from the sultan's bed and reach that vital door to the palace by the deadline! How could I do that? I was almost beside myself with terror and frustration!

"The best that I could come up with was to recall that the royal physician had given some draughts of a sleeping powder to another girl in the seraglio. She had been having nightmares, but still had some of that powder left. I stole some, wrapping it in a small packet of old newspaper that I found. I hoped to be summoned to the sultan's bed, give him the powder in a glass of wine or in coffee, then slip out when he was asleep. I wanted to be allowed to wear a standard harem costume, and hide the powder packet in the waistband or in my bosom. Sometimes, I was summoned to come nude, or in just cheap jewelry. I hoped not to be chained or bound, lest I not be able to keep the packet from slipping loose and being discovered. If my plan was discovered, I would be punished severely, partly as a lesson to any other girl who might be entertaining thoughts of escape. I had taken an awful chance in just speaking to the arms merchant."

"But the sultan sent for another girl, the sole American in our number, a blonde girl from Virginia. I was so frustrated that I was just frantic! I decided to wait until late and try to clobber the eunuch guard at the door of the seraglio with an empty champagne bottle that we girls had been allowed to finish off."

"What's a seraglio?," asked Veronica.

"Basically, the harem, or more properly where the harem is kept in a Muslim home. The place of the wives and concubines, and in our case, the slave girls. Anyway, I had about decided to fall back on Plan B and was gathering the few clothes that I had when word came that Sally, the American girl, had displeased the sultan, and that I was to replace her. Back to Plan A, also very risky."

"Sally was brought in and chained along one wall. The next day, she would be punished for not trying hard enough to entice the sultan. She admitted that she had been lackluster in her performance, hating what she was doing and what she had become. She had lapsed, and would pay for it, with all of us made to watch. With luck, she would merely be whipped. They had far worse tortures that I won't describe now."

"The eunuch ordered me to primp and be ready to leave for the royal chambers in ten minutes. I asked if I might dance for the sultan and wanted to wear my favorite outfit. He thought about that, and remembered that the sultan liked to see me perform, so said yes."

"My red outfit was being laundered, so I wore blue, also quite nice, if I do say so, myself. I was leashed and my hands bound behind me and led to the sultan. I was petrified that the packet of sleeping potion would fall from my bosom. That top of the costume wasn't very substantial or supportive, anyway. It was more diaphanous and flimsy than the red one that Prince Apep made me wear here on the Plateau. In fact, it was only just opaque enough that I could conceal the packet, taped under one breast. I was terrified that I'd be ordered to remove my top before I could hide the drug in the room."

"The musicians played, and I danced, having hidden the packet in a plant vase as soon as my hands were freed. My top stayed on for the performance, as it often did, when there were guests. When the band left, I was summoned to his room and told to strip and enter his bed. I undressed, but begged to have a glass of wine and bring him one, too. He agreed. It was Chateau d'Yquem, a marvelous Sauternes. Because it was so sweet, he didn't taste the sleeping potion, especially as I moved before him, without music. I played with him as my hand came in reach, and he sipped the wine. I hadn't been chained by the ankle to the ring near his bed, and when he slept, I slipped out a window in the next room, waiting until a guard passed. Then, I tied the sheets together and eased myself down down the wall to the ground. I hid in the garden until time, then made my way to that door. I am so grateful even now that no one missed me until I had been loaded into the truck and was en route to the ship. Of course, I'd put that harem girl costume on again by then. What there was of it..."

"I was taken out to the main ship in a crate marked for holding a machine gun that had been sold. There, I went into the hold, but my new friend slipped me out and hid me in his room."

"We landed several days later in another country, and I was rowed ashore, hidden under blankets. Ashore, I was taken to the British consulate and presented to the soldier at the gate. Soon, I was being cared for, fed, bathed, given a few clothes by the ladies there. My slave collar was cut off. Thankfully, I was never branded. Maybe that isn't Arab custom, more ancient Roman. I was even given a job as a nanny, a native girl who had that job having been dismissed when it became known that she lacked basic sanitary knowledge."

"A cable was sent to London, telling the Colonial Secretary of my plight. Honestly, I think they might have tried to sweep the matter under the rug, but tensions were already building between Britain and Germany, several years before the war. Germany was courting the sultan, and Britain wanted an issue to embarrass them and upset that relationship. I became that issue, along with the five other Brits being held there. I gave their names and where they came from, and was told that something would be done. In the meantime, I had a job as a nanny, and was fed and paid and clothed."

"A month passed. The sultan was furious when he realized what had happened. He refused to hand over the other girls and insisted that I be returned. I was terrified! But I was assured that this was not to be done. He claimed me as his lawful property, but Britain opposed the slave trade, and refused to give me back to him."

" A fleet of Royal Navy ships bound for India was diverted and sent to anchor in the harbor of the sultanate. There was a full battleship, two heavy cruisers, two destroyers, and a troopship, carrying a thousand men from three famous regiments. They were replacements destined to rotate to Bengal and to the Northwest Frontier of India. Another 500 Royal Marines were aboard the various ships, too. And those big ships' guns could reduce the palace to rubble with a few salvos. The sultan was asked again by a diplomatic envoy to reconsider giving up the slave girls. It may have helped that a cable came from President Roosevelt of the United States, saying bluntly that the only diplomacy the sultan would see if Sally wasn't given up was the arrival of a squadron of US Navy ships and a large contingent of their Marines. War would ensue on their arrival if the girl wasn't given up."

"Things were tense for over a week, and we learned that Teddy Roosevelt meant what he had said. Ships were inbound for Amarrah, with the USS Texas leading a fleet of smaller warships. They joined the Royal Navy and the admiral of the American fleet sent word that he would begin a bombardment the next morning. Another diplomatic meeting ensued, and all five British girls and Sally and one Canadian woman were handed over to the Royal Navy and the consul. To avoid a war that might force German intervention on the side of the sultan, he was allowed to keep the other white girls. One was Italian, two Russian, the others, French and Austrian. The Austrians were bought from the Turks who had captured them in their wars. I don't know where all the others had been taken, but no one in a position to do anything cared much."

"I learned that the sultan had offered a reward for my head, and I was spirited back to Britain on an ocean liner with the other Brit girls and landed in Bristol. I saw in the newspapers that everyone was trying to ease off what had happened, because Germany had lodged a diplomatic protest over the military threat to the sultan. I was told that a few foreign girls weren't worth a war, and that had Teddy Roosevelt and the Secretary of State for War's wife not taken an interest, we British and other English-speaking ones might not have been rescued. Germany and the sultan had been embarrassed enough, and the Prime Minister wanted peace. The politicians were satisfed with rattling figurative swords for awhile, as long as they got the specific girls they wanted freed. "

"I worked as a governess for a noble family for some months, then returned to France to steal some other jewels, more successfully. This time, I worked alone and told no one my plans and sold the jewels myself, to a personal contact. I never went through a normal 'fence' again. They wouldn't pay as much as stolen gems were worth, anyway. It was better to go to known collectors of rare items.

In another year I was married to a wealthy man, whch is another story. But I have always been very careful when in the Middle East to avoid being caught by anyone looking to collect that sultan's reward for my head. It may no longer be a threat, for he was invaded by British troops during the war, having declared for Germany. He was killed. I have no idea whether his eldest son, now on the throne, still wants to settle that old score."

Ned knocked at the door. "What's keeping you girls? Is everything okay?"

Veronica opened the door slightly and said that the three women would be right down, and he left.

"Well, now you know where and why I learned to dance," said Marguerite, wiping her face. She slipped off the panties and donned her dance clothes as the others finished their primping before the mirror. Then, they went downstairs, smiling. But Finn lagged back with Marguerite and held her hand.

"Thank you for telling us that story. If you ever want to talk more about any of this, you know where I am."

Marguerite nodded. "I think I will tell John later. He must learn, or the story may reach his ears via other means, and I want him to hear my side of it first. He may recall the case from the newspapers, and just not have realized that I was the girl who escaped and upset the sultan's applecart."

Then, they were onstage, the Victrola playing Arabic music, and the girls began swirling, twirling, undulating at their best. The men applauded, and passed the punch around, all enjoying themselves. Marguerite was magnificent, and all acknowledged that her dancing was the best. Again...

She thanked the men, who gave her a standing ovation, in which the other girls joined. Roxton hugged her and said that she must someday tell where she had learned to do this so well.

"How about tonight, our room, after things quiet down here?," she asked, startling him.

His face opened in a wide smile. "At last, I'll know your secrets?"

"The worst of them, yes. If you handle this well, others will trickle out as I feel the time is right." She pulled him close. "Oh, John, you have no idea what I am going to tell you. Please love me afterwards, when you know where I learned to dance. There's a little more to it than just that, I'm afraid."

Later, she confessed all, and Roxton lay beside her, playing with her hair, stroking her body, telling her that this was past. "All that remains of it is our love and your skills as a dancer. But I am amused that I have the woman of a sultan in love with me. You are all the harem that I need, Marguerite. If I owned a thousand girls, as indeed some of these Oriental chaps have done, I would send for only one."

"Scheherazade?", she asked, teasing him. "My bedtime skills don't include very good stories, I'm afraid. I should have to please you another way. You might be too jaded to enjoy me, after all the other women whom you have known."

"Those are also in the past. If you will forgive me them, I will forgive you this sultan, into whose keeping you hardly went voluntarily. Actually, I am relieved that this is your worst secret. It makes you seem adventurous, colorful, larger than life."

"So, you'll keep me?", she asked anxiously. "You mean this, John? You do not see me as soiled goods?"

"No, I see you as mine. And I take excellent care of what is mine. If there was any soil on you, I feel sure that I washed it off this morning as we showered. And now, Marguerite, show me how you pleased this sultan. I mean to reap the benefits of what you learned. Some good is going to come of what you went through." He kissed her and began playing with her ears.

"You truly do not mind being with a girl such as me?" She looked at him with wet eyes, searching for the truth in his face. She saw infinite love and tolerance there, and felt his hand at the small of her back, where his fingers tickled her lightly, wonderfully, before sliding to her behind, sending tremors through her whole body.

"I have no problem with you. I have what I want. I demand the best. I have it, in guns, knives, binoculars, boots, my home, my horses there. And now in my woman. The only problem that you will have with me over this issue is if you insist on beating yourself up mentally over something that you could not help. Is that understood, Marguerite?"

She nodded, and crying with joy, hugged him fiercely. "Oh, John, I so feared your reaction! Please keep my secret from Ned and George. I dread their set of values, what they will think of me, if they but knew what I have told you tonight. I swear to be whatever you ask of me, but I want to have their respect, also. Can you promise me to say nothing to them? To others back in Britain?"

"Yes. But what of the other girls? Do they know?"

"Yes, as of tonight. I told them, and asked whether I dared tell you. They said that I could trust you, that you would keep me. I'm glad that they were right."

"You have wise and kind female friends," he acknowledged. "They gave you good advice. This is why you girls were late to dance?"

She nodded, and he felt the motion of her chin against his chest.

"Marguerite, do you just want to be held tonight? I won't make a move on you if you feel that it would mean that I see you only as a sex object, for my love for you is as spiritual as it is physical, and I know that you have had a rough night."

"It depends. Do you want me, the woman who learned her lovemaking skills in a harem?"

"Certainly. It beats training you, myself. I get to reap the benefits of your lessons. Now,I know how you have managed to please me so fantastically."

She smiled wanly and held him. "In that case, Lord Roxton, prepare to receive the hottest sex of your life. I will give myself to you more wantonly than I ever did to that sultan. Whatever you want, ask, and it shall be yours." She moved against him and he groaned in pleasure.

Over an hour later, she lay beside him, on the edge of sleep, when she registered him leaning over her and kissing her forehead. "Good night, Marguerite. Thank you for sharing your life with me. I can't wait to marry you. I want you for all time. As I said, I demand the best."

And she slept in his arms, content to a degree greater than she had known in her life. I think I am going to wake up feeling rosy all over and very much in love, she decided. Finn and I are going to be running a dead heat for Love Affair of the Ages. And she smiled as sleep took her.

The End


End file.
